The Parasite King's power exceeded the Mid Golden Core Realm, crossing over into the Late Golden Core Realm!

Glowing a bright white, its aura pulsated violently. It looked like at any moment it could suddenly discard everything and go supernova.

However, even in the face of such power, Necro didn't falter for even a second. While keeping space locked down with one hand, he made his other hand morph and transform into a sharpened wooden blade.

"Whatever you're doing will be troublesome if I let it go off," he said coldly, his blade arm gleaming under the immensity of his power. "Therefore, I just won't let it go off."

"Oh, yeah!?" The Parasite King sneered, the white glow around it suddenly spiking in intensity. "And how do you plan to do that if I can go supernova in a fraction of a nanosecond—"

SHING—

"Isn't that quite simple?" Necro's voice echoed from behind the giant white blob. "I just have to move faster than a fraction of a nanosecond."

KA—BOOOOM!!

Although the majority of the energy discharge had been mitigated after the Parasite King was diced up to the atomic level, some of it still remained. This produced a massive, rapidly expanding explosion that could be seen from thousands of miles away.

The self-destruction of a Monster previously at the Nascent Soul Realm was no joke…

— Some distance away from the City of Shelldom —

"Did you see that, Bai Gong?" A male disciple from the Dragon Island Sect pointed at a dazzling light blipping on the horizon. "Although most of that energy discharge was from an unfamiliar, irrelevant source, a part of it definitely came from our target. He's fighting someone right now!"

"No, Chan Xiu, the battle has… already ended," Bai Gong said dramatically, his fierce gaze honed in on the colossal turtle. "Let's head over."

"Let's!"

The two Dragon Island Sect Disciples of the Peak Golden Core Realm zipped off in the direction of the Aimless Ancestor. They arrived in a short few minutes, where they then observed the slight charred marks on the huge Turtle's shell.

"Hey, isn't this the Supreme Deity Monster that the Ancestors from that one Sect banished to the Mortal Realm an Eon ago?" Chan Xiu got distracted from the main objective, his curious monkey-like gaze checking out the Aimless Ancestor.

His fellow Inner Sect Disciple brother, Bai Gong, nodded. "This is indeed that same Supreme Deity. As for why it's here on this rock formation in the shape of an Azure Dragon, I have no idea. However, from the looks of things, a Parasite Monster has been taking advantage of it for many years."

He pointed at the open flesh wound on the top of the Turtle's head, receiving some "Wows" from Chan Xiu.

"But well, where is that daring Mortal who killed the Saintess's Pet?" he asked while looking left and right to no avail. "We should really find and kill him as fast as possible, so we can return to the Saintess's side."

Bai Gong's brows tightly knitted together. "Our target will turn out to be more difficult to deal with than originally planned. After all, the Parasite that was once here had been cornered and killed, which was what we saw earlier."

"It was no pushover either," he added with a tone of severity. "In its final moments, it was definitely within the Realm of Late Golden Core. Yet, even with that being the case, it was completely overpowered without hope of resistance."

"...Our target is that strong…?" Chan Xiu thought they were hunting someone barely in the Golden Core Realm, not a powerhouse nearly on the same level as them.

"Don't worry, even if things really become too difficult to handle when we find the target, we always have this." Bai Gong pulled a beautiful curved blue blade out of his Spatial Ring. "The Deity Vanquishing Sword, Azgale."

"With this item temporarily gifted to us by the Saintess," he said, awakening a tiny portion of its unimaginable power, "there's no way any mere Golden Core Realm Mortal will be able to stand in our way! In the way of the Immortal Dragon Island Sect!!"

OOOM!

The world cried under the earth-shattering might of the Deity Vanquishing Sword!!

Little did the two Inner Disciples from the Dragon Island Sect know that, while they were actively searching for their target, that very same target had been hiding beneath their feet the whole time.

'An Immortal Sect, huh?' Necro's eyes abruptly opened from inside the Aimless Ancestor's head wound. He had been making use of its mystical presence to overshadow his own—a decision he followed through with after getting the irksome feeling that someone was tracking him.

'From their name alone, they must have something to do with the True Dragon I killed yesterday,' Necro pondered. 'If that's the case, then they're unlikely to let up any time soon. And since it's an Immortal Sect, they certainly have Immortal Experts at the Nascent Soul Realm. I'd instantly die if I were to face one…'

So then what was he to do?

'Hmm… I remember someone mentioning something about a Sacred Azure Holy Grounds.' His mind flashed with a lightbulb. 'Rumored to be a Secret Dimensional Sect created by a being beyond the Supreme Deity Realm and located within the Azure Dragon Ridge Region. I can use it to lay low and continue my cultivation until the point I complete the Red Lotus of the Divine Tempering Lotus Sutra.'

It's decided. His next destination would be the Sacred Azure Holy Grounds!

— Some days later, at the Annual Disciple Entry Examination for the Sacred Azure Holy Grounds —

Hundreds of thousands could be seen waiting at the bottom of a pair of marble steps that wrapped around several mountains and up into the heavens. Even Royals from outside the Skyriser Kingdom came to test their luck at the Sacred Azure Holy Grounds.

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what??"

"The Sacred Azure Sect will be taking in double the number of new Disciples this year!"

"Really!?"

"Why would I lie?? This comes directly from the mouth of the Featherwing Kingdom's Eldest Prince, who's close friends with an actual Outer Disciple of the Sacred Azure Sect!"

"A real Outer Disciple!? Then he must be at least in the Golden Core Realm!"

"What's so special about being in the Golden Core Realm?? It's potential that's more important—"

OOOM!

A large pressure suddenly befell the venue. Countless people looked up, where they then saw an immortal-like man descending from the skies on a swan of pure white. Donned in black and yellow, this eloquent man tapped off his Immortal Realm Swan, appearing before the swaths of people with a ripple of profound energy.

"Good evening, everyone," the man began. "My name is San Xianying, an Inner Disciple of the Sacred Azure Sect, and I will be explaining to you what you'll be doing today."

Many-a-women swooned at his dashing appearance. But even more men envied him, for he was not only a Heavenly Deity of the Nascent Soul Realm, he was also a highly respected Inner Disciple of the Sacred Azure Sect.

However, no matter how everyone was feeling right now, they all focused on San Xianying's following words.

Some time later…

"Does everyone understand?" he asked, but decided to summarize just to make sure. "Climb as far as you can on the steps. The further you go, the higher the gravity pressure, but also the higher your chances of becoming a Disciple will be. Only the Top 5000 can progress to the next Trial, so prepare yourselves for the tough competition. Anything is acceptable as long as you don't kill another competitor."

After saying this, San Xianying brought down the curtain of light preventing one from stepping onto the marbled stairs. "You may begin."

Chaos then ensued, as Commoners and Royalty alike discarded all decorum in their crazed ascent up the very wide staircase. Some people were pushed, while others were trampled on. Necro found this method of Trial Testing quite unusual, but didn't mind all that much.

He was one of the first to arrive at the venue, so he was also one of the first to ascend the marble stairs. However, instead of rushing up, he took his time, allowing competitors to pass him right by.

'That powerful man never said anything about being the fastest,' he thought. 'I simply have to go the furthest.'

And so he bode his time, leisurely ascending the stairs.

Meanwhile, just outside the venue, two brotherly figures stood with frowns.

"He just had to go seek refuge with the Sacred Azure Sect…" Bai Gong clicked his tongue, not liking this development one bit. He had already promised the Saintess that he and Chan Xiu would kill the target for sure, but if they couldn't deliver, then…

"Will the Saintess kill us for this?" Chan Xiu asked, his usually frivolous smile twitching. "I… don't want to die…"

"Don't give up all hope yet, Chan," said Bai Gong, a confident idea forming. "Even if that guy is capable enough to pass this Trial of the Sacred Azure Sect, who is to say that he won't meet with an accident before he can succeed?"

"You don't mean…"

"Yes, Chan, we'll make use of Dragon Island Sect's specialized Invisibility Talismans to sneak up the marbled staircase. Even that Nascent Soul Realm Azure Sacred Disciple won't be able to see us as long as we do it properly!"

Bai Gong smiled evilly, urging a similarly evil smirk on Chan Xiu's face as well. They then vanished, setting their plan into motion.